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Hayami Ryūichi
Ryūichi Hayami (速水龍一, Hayami Ryūichi) is semi-recurring character in Hajime no Ippo. He is a junior featherweight (formerly featherweight) boxer affiliated with the Otowa Boxing Gym. His surname is Hayami. In Japan, surnames are listed before given names. Background Hayami had an impressive record as an amateur (56 matches-56 wins-43 KOs). During his high school days he won the Inter-High Championship three times in a row, beating Yoshida Mitsuo, a fellow genius, twice. As a result, he earned the attention of the press and gained a lot of fans, who mostly were females. History Part I Rookie King Tournament: Finals Arc After easily winning his pro debut and a second bout, he signed up for the East Japan Rookie King tournament. Among the four seeds (including Miyata Ichirō, Mashiba Ryō and Yoshida), he was the favourite to win the tournament. He faced Iwakawa Seike in the first round of the tournament. After soundly beating him with the Shotgun, he proceeded to do the same with Yasukawa Kazuhito in the quarter finals, despite the latter's attempts to wear Hayami down by picking him off with counter strikes, the same strategy that Kamogawa Genji had in mind for Makunouchi Ippo's match against Hayami. When Fujii Minoru approached Hayami to take his comments for the upcoming match against Ippo, Hayami stated that after seeing Ippo's match against Kobashi Kenta on a video tape, he was very disappointed in him. Since Ippo got his hands full with an opponent of Kobashi's caliber, Hayami considered him nothing of a threat, and thought that the semi-finals would be an easy pass. Fujii warned him that he should take Ippo seriously since his punch is powerful, and if the match went to an in-fight, Hayami would face a lot of problems. The day of the bout came, and despite being a 4-rounder match, it had air commentaries due to Hayami's popularity. Hayami purposely took the match into an in-fight in order to show his superiority by beating the hard-puncher in his speciality. He was quickly overwhelmed. While attempting to get some distance, he used a short uppercut, but Ippo countered with a hook that cut off his footwork. Hayami used the Shotgun as a last resort. However, due to being unable to put his waist into it, Ippo read its rhythm, and took full advantage of the situation. Hayami was knocked out with an uppercut square to the jaw, just before the closing of the first round. Everyone in the stadium was shocked, most of all Hayami's cheering squad, who had never seen him lose, and the reporters who were planning on making an article about him. When Hayami came to and realised that he lost, he said to his coach that it was alright since great boxers like Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard lost as well. He walked away from the ring with his head up, and received cheers from his fans despite his loss. White Fang Arc When fellow gym member Alexander Volg Zangief had a match against Ippo in the Class A Tournament finals in a few days, Volg and Ruslan Ramuda were mitt practising. When a gym member claimed that Volg's White Fang looked faster than Hayami's Shotgun, Hayami agreed. Hayami pointed out Ramuda's round mitt that was invented for precise left-right and up-down combinations. Hayami then explained the White Fang and wondered what Ippo will do about it. First Step Arc Some time later, even after gaining a glass jaw from fighting Ippo, Hayami decided to continue boxing. Hayami later made a comeback in the junior featherweight division, where he became the first ranker. After Sanada Kazuki relinquished his belt to move up a weight class, Hayami faced the second ranker of the junior featherweight class, Kobashi Kenta, for the vacant title. As the fight reached it's climax, the points were in Hayami's favour. In the eighth round, Hayami went down after his glass jaw was hit. Hayami's coach then threw the towel into the ring, causing the match to end and resulting in Hayami's loss. Hayami retired for a year after this match. Part II He continued his career after coming back from retirement. After his title match against Kobashi, he had a comeback match in which he won by decision. After that match, he had a string of losses, not giving up until he gets a belt, believing in himself. Part III Second Step Arc At Kōrakuen Hall, as Hayami gets ready for his match, he meets Ippo and claims he has high expectations of himself and no matter how many times he loses, he will go on, then one day he will create a legend. His match begins, despite doing well in the first round, Hayami's weak jaw causes him to go down two times in the second round, ending with Hayami losing. After he deliberates to win his next match, he comments that he will become a legend as everyone's waiting for him. He then asks Ippo if he is okay with being a 'support role' since he retired, after hearing his answer, Hayami leaves. Match History Other Matches Amateur Matches: 56-56-0-0 (43 KO) VS Yoshida Mitsuo 3R Win by KO (Inter-High Tournaments Finals) VS Yoshida Mitsuo 3R Win by KO (Inter-High Tournaments Finals) VS Unknown 3R Win by KO (Inter-High Tournaments Finals) Appearance Hayami is a young man who, due to his likeable appearance, has earned him a lot of female fans. His skin is lightly tanned and he has a muscular body. He has black coloured eyes, and short, curly brown hair with a few bangs going over his forehead. His attire outside the ring usually consists of regular shirts and muscle shirts. After his 22nd match, he was seen wearing a black opened jacket over a white buttoned shirt.Hajime no Ippo Chapter 1224 During his ring entrances, he wears a shiny purple long coat that is a bright red colour inside with "RYUICHI" on the back. Inside the ring, he wears pink and purple boxing shorts with "RYUICHI" on the name slot. He later changes his boxing shorts to cheetah print boxing shorts and shoes. Personality Flamboyant and overconfident, Hayami displays little sense of sportsmanship inside the ring when he is first introduced. He tends to think of some of his opponents as being worthless. He is adored by many female fans, and likewise, he is something of a pretty boy himself. Despite his attitude, he is hard-working and talented. Hayami genuinely loves boxing, as he explained during his interview with Fujii. He was planning to be the charismatic hero like Muhammad Ali so that all of Japan would love boxing. Boxing Abilities Hayami is an out-boxer possessing great punch speed and footwork. He is very skilled, with talent and speed better than Miyata's. Hajime no Ippo Chapter 38, page 15 Despite being talented, Hayami doesn't slack off and trains very hard, doing even basic training that most boxers with his talent would ignore. Hayami's strongest weapon is a barrage of high-speed punches called the Shotgun, a technique he had since high school. He also possesses a Short Uppercut that he uses specifically against In-Fighters, often for making an opening for his Shotgun. Weaknesses Hayami's primary weakness is his glass jaw. After his fight with Ippo, his jaw had received massive damage, turning into a "glass jaw" which ultimately brings his defeat. As seen later, during his 20th match, he falls after being slightly grazed by a punch on his chin. Hayami is also weaker to punches, as all the damage accumulated up throughout his career, it may take a year or two of retirement to recover from the damage. Another weakness is his cockiness. He lost to Ippo because he tried to challenge Ippo in an in fight, rather than out box him from the start. He changed this attitude during his fight with Kobashi. Gallery Trivia *He shares many similarities with Juza, from Fist of the North Star. *According to the Japanese Wiki, Hayami's was modeled after real life boxer Hector Camacho. *In the weekly magazine, Chapter 1219, his record was 19 matches, 8 wins and 11 losses. But by the release of Volume 122, it changed to 21 matches, 10 wins and 11 losses, with unknown number of knockouts. References fr:Ryuchi Hayami Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Characters from Japan Category:Out Boxers Category:Featherweights Category:Junior Featherweights Category:Otowa Boxing Gym Category:Boxers Category:Orthodox Boxers Category:Genius Boxers Category:Inter-High Champions Category:Boxers Formerly Retired Category:Multi-Weight Class Boxers